Lost
by Hime's Prince
Summary: Troy had always been waiting for the perfect one. When she finally comes along, they spend a happy six months together. What happens when she suddenly dissapears? After half a year, Troy is determined to find out what happened as clues start to show. TROE
1. Chapter 1: Begin the Tale

**Lost**

**Summary: **Troy, the basketball guy, had always been the popular guy, the cool guy. Every girl thought of him as their dream date. But Troy, he was waiting for the special one to come. When she finally did, she melted Troy's heart. Troy fell heads over heels, and he was sure she did the same about him. But one day during summer, she suddenly dissapears. Her house is empty, her mom is gone. There's no trace left behind. She left Troy lost, confused and waiting. Why did she leave? When she comes back.. will it be the same as it was before? It is uncovered, her fatal disease. To what extent will Troy go to save her?

Will leave you tearing at the end, promised )

**A/N:** I hope everyone likes this story and please read and REVIEW if you want me to continue it )

The first chapter is in present time, then the next few chapters are going to be of what happened in the past (one year ago before she left)

* * *

**Chapter One: Begin the Tale**

Troy Bolton looked up from his seat. Dazed. _What happened? _This must've been the millionth time this question was in his mind. There wasn't a day that went by when he wouldn't ask himself this question again. Images of him and _her _popped into his mind once again. They were so happy, so perfect. Where had she gone, all of a sudden? Why would she suddenly move, without telling him, or anyone? Was it me? Did I do something worng?

A shake from his friend shook him from his thoughts. "Dude, you dazed out. Again. Are you okay? You gotta snap out of this." Chad, holding his usual basketball put his free hand on Troy's shoulder. Troy threw his hair back and looked up at his friend with his bright, blue eyes. Troy nodded silently.

"I'm okay. What's up?" Troy said. It's been six months, he had gotten used to these occasional daze outs he could not even control himself. After all, he had to get on with life. "Is it basketball again today after school?"

Chad nodded and chuckled. "What else? Studying?" Chad felt a slap coming from the back of his head. His girlfriend, Taylor had just smacked him. Troy laughed a little. They were a funny couple, even he had to admit that. Troy got occasionally jealous, but he felt happy for them.

"Yes, you SHOULD be studying. Our mid-terms are coming up!" Taylor reminded Chad. Chad let out a groan. He hated tests, homework and most of all, his girlfriend's nags. Troy shook his head and picked up his books. Free block was about to end.

"Come on, lets get to class." Troy stood up and patted Chad on the back. Taylor looked at Chad. It didn't take an IQ of 170 to figure out what Troy had been thinking about. Taylor let out a sigh of worry. He was not the only one that wanted to know the mystery behind the disappearance.

Troy and his friends walked back to their lockers and got their books for their next class, science. _Her favorite… _Troy thought as he picked up his science text book. He looked at his bookmark and sighed.

Troy started to walk towards his science class. A bunch of nearby cheerleaders leaned against their lockers and flicked their hair back as soon as he walked by. "Hey Troy." The head cheerleader said flirtatiously. Troy politely nodded and moved on. The head cheerleader sighed in disappointment for the third time in two days. "He'll be mine, some day." The other girls laughed and they continued their gossip.

Troy shook his head and walked on. Girls, he no longer found interesting. Don't get him wrong, he's not gay. He just no longer found it fun to stare at them, or their body parts. He still thought some of them were pretty once in a while, but only as acknowledgement. Nothing more.

He sat down in science class. He flipped open his text book as the teacher began her lecture. He tried to focus, but as usual, he was not successful. Ms. Jackson came by his table and knocked on there. "Asleep yet, Mr. Bolton?"

Troy snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. "No, Ms. Jackson." He answered politely. Ms. Jackson shook his head. "Can everybody turn to page…" She continued on. She's been trying everyday for half a year to get him to pay attention. Never works, never have, probably never will.

The science class dragged to an end soon. Troy got up and was about to leave when Ms. Jackson suddenly stopped him. "Wait, Mr. Bolton. Can you please stay for a minute?"

Troy nodded and walked to her desk. Ms. Jackson was around 30 years old, she was a nice teacher. She had just come to East High three months ago when their science teacher went away for retirement. She was nice, but Troy just wasn't really into anything anymore, especially not science. Without his personal tutor, anyways.

"Mr. Bolton. Ever since I have been here, you are not focused during every single one of my classes. I have heard you used to be a fairly good student. Is it something I'm doing?" Ms. Jackson wanted to help Troy, know if it was something she was doing wrong. Perhaps she was teaching wrong.

Troy merely shook his head. "No, Ms. Jackson. It isn't because of you." Troy turned to go away. But Ms. Jackson obviously was not finished.

"Then why is it you never pay attention in class? If this continues, I think I'll have to notify your parents. You know how convenient it is for me to talk to your father." She mentioned his basketball coach father, Jack Bolton.

"It's nothing. I'll try harder from now on Ms. Jackson." Troy looked at the room around him. He didn't really feel like being focused.

Ms. Jackson shook her head. It looks like she would have to talk to his father. "You may go now, Troy." Troy nodded and walked out of the science room.

Chad and the team met him at the cafeteria. Chad and Taylor walked off hand in hand. "We're going to the library to study." Chad murmured. His friends, including Troy, laughed and shook their heads as the couple walked off. Troy ate his lunch, occasionally adding into his friend's conversations. He tried to be as normal as possible, as usual. "Troy, can you come with me for a minute?" Troy finished chuckling with his friends, looked up to find his dad looking at him.

Troy nodded and followed his father into his office. Surprisingly, he saw Taylor there. "Chad! Taylor! What are you doing here?" Jack pulled out a chair from the desk and motioned Troy to sit down.

"Ms. Jackson just talked to me. Troy, you haven't been very focused in class. And she told me that this is not a recent problem. I talked to Chad and Taylor to try and understand more about the situation." His friends nodded in agreement. They knew what's wrong.

"Troy, you have to put it down. We don't know, we have even asked the police. It's obvious they're trying to hide from us. From the world. You have to forget her and move on. I miss her too, she was my best friend." Troy knew who she was talking about. He eyes went from his friend to the ground.

Suddenly, Ms. Jackson walked in the room. "As Troy's teacher, I'd like to know what's wrong with him as well." The coach nodded in agreement.

"I hope you guys won't mind that I had overheard some outside. Who were you guys talking about?" Troy sighed and shook his head. He had to face it sometime, to talk of her again, to let go of her. For now, he was not ready to let go, but he could talk about her. Chad put a hand on his shoulder. This was a big step for Troy.

Troy took out his wallet and showed him a picture of him and _the girl._ Ms. Jackson looked at the picture, and studied it for a minute. Troy nodded and sighed.

Chad put his arm around Taylor as Troy began. With a grim look at the picture, Troy began his tale. "It was one year ago…"

* * *

**One Year Ago...**

Troy Bolton, the basketball guy, got off the school bus to be trampled over by his friends. "Hey Guys." He grinned happily. He was the popular guy with wavy blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. Chad, his best friend, put his arm around his neck in a head lock with his free hand (the one that wasn't holding his basketball).

"What's up my man, ready to lead us to the championships?" Chad grinned. They continued to walk along as they usually did, with lots of girls in the hallway flirtingly looking at Troy. "Yeah, I'm ready!" Troy said, while he smiled politely and nodded at the girls.

Troy and his boys sat down in their home room and awaited Ms. Darbus to begin class. Troy sat down and finished laughing with his friends. He fiddled his finger as Ms. Darbus walked in. But his attention steered off to a girl following behind Ms. Darbus. She had dark wavy curls for her hair, and chocolate brown eyes. The moment Troy saw her, something in his heart felt… different.

The girl stood beside the teacher's desk as Ms. Darbus shushed everyone. "Welcome back everyone. Winter vacation is over and I hope everyone is ready for school. May I introduce our new student, Gabriella Montez." The girl, Gabriella, waved lightly and smiled politely. Gabriella looked around the classroom and sat down at the empty seat behind Troy.

During the rest of home room, Troy kept trying to steal glances at the girl that sat behind him. He couldn't do it without the whole class noticing. That girl, Gabriella, left an impression on Troy like none other.

When homeroom finally ended, Troy and Chad parted ways as Troy headed to science class. Troy shook his head, laughed at his own sudden impulsive obsession and walked on. Just after he had convinced himself he was a bit stupid for having such sudden thoughts on a stranger, he saw Gabriella walk into the science room along with Taylor, whom he knew Chad had a crush on although he keeps pretending to be enemies with her.

He watched as she took a seat, this time in front of him. Class started and flew by, with Gabriella not knowing that there was a charming guy behind her staring at her the whole class. Troy awaited her to come out, outside the classroom, and decided to talk to her. After all, he was used to girls loving him, so how hard would it be to get this one to like him?

"Hi!" Troy said as Gabriella came out of the classroom. Gabriella jumped back a little, taken by surprised and smiled politely. "Hi!" She said back.

"Well, I'm Troy Bolton and since you're new to the school, I thought I might show you around." Troy flashed her one of his irresistible smiles. Expecting a yes, he looked at her with calm eyes.

"It's okay. Taylor had already shown me around the school." Gabriella said, and with that, she walked away. Troy stood there, stunned. _Did a girl, just turn me down? _Troy watched as she walked away with Taylor.

Troy felt a light punch on his right arm. He turned around and saw Chad. "What's up? I saw you talking to that new girl." Troy shook his head and laughed. "Oh, it was nothing. I was going to show her around, but Taylor already did."

Chad perked up at the name 'Taylor'. Troy chuckled. "Yes, Taylor. The girl you like?" Chad blushed but quickly hid it. "What are you TALKING about? I have NO IDEA what you're talking about." Chad slapped Troy's chest and led Troy to their next class.

Troy went through the day without seeing Gabriella again, until their last class, English. Gabriella sat far from him this time though, but he could still see her, and look at her.

"To welcome all of you back, I have decided to give all of you a project. I want all of you to either write a poem, or a song. It has to follow the poem format and use at least seven different literary devices." Mrs. Robin. "This will be a partner project." She added.

Troy groaned. _A project, already?! _He thought to himself. He continued to listen to the teacher, in hopes of hearing something he would actually like.

"I will randomly pick names from this hat to determine who the groups." Mrs. Robin continued. "Chad and Taylor." She began. Beside him, Troy saw his friend's mouth turn into a grin. But as Chad saw Troy, he quickly made his face into a frown. Troy laughed lightly.

Troy didn't even want to hear his name. Another project, he never has luck on partners. They're either stupid girls who only want to spend their project time flirting with him or they're guys. "And finally, Troy and Gabriella." Suddenly, Troy heard his name. _Troy and Gabriella? I'm with the new girl!_

His eyes went to Gabriella's and their eyes met for the first time. Gabriella smiled and Troy smiled back.

Troy stopped Gabriella again after class. "So, when're we going to work on our project?" Troy grinned. He had never had a better, or prettier partner for that matter. Gabriella laughed. "I thought a jock like you wouldn't care about your English mark." Troy laughed uncomfortably. _Did she hear something about me? Does she have a bad impression of me already?_

"Just kidding. Want to work on it tomorrow after school?" She suggested. Without thinking Troy smiled. "It's a date then." Gabriella eyed him suspiciously. "Uh, I mean, like, a date set to work together, a working together thing, a work together, a" Troy stopped himself before he embarrassed himself any further.

Gabriella smiled at his clumsiness. "Okay. I'll see you later then." Gabriella turned and walked away. Troy mentally punched himself. _How could I embarrass myself like that? I've never gotten so nervous because of a girl. Gah, what is with her?_

"You got what you want, eh?" He heard Chad's voice behind him. Troy laughed. "Haha, like you didn't? I know you got Taylor." Chad blushed, but didn't deny it. Troy followed Chad to the gym for basketball practice.

Troy couldn't take his mind off the 'new girl'. All day, all night, any time, any where. It must be a spell, for him to feel this way after only a few hours of meeting her. It was really unbelievable. He found himself looking at her during class, awaiting their 'date'.

Finally, the second day of school came to an end. Troy went to Gabriella's locker to await her. "Hey!" Troy smiled as she came over. Gabriella smiled slightly. "Hi Troy. I have an idea for our project already. I'll tell you about it when we get to… we haven't thought of where to go yet." Gabriella looked at Troy, hoping he would come up with an idea.

"Uh, how about… your house?" Troy asked, hoping she wouldn't think that he was trying to get into her house. Gabriella smiled and nodded. She packed up her books and closed her locker.

Troy found himself staring at her. "Let's go, shall we?" Gabriella's voice woke Troy up. He hoped that she didn't notice him staring.

Troy and Gabriella walked to her house, alone. Gabriella hugged her books tightly and kept silent. Troy wanted so much to break the silence, and to break into her heart. "So, how do you like East High so far?" Gabriella sighed, and let go of her arms. She began to relax.

"Well.. it's a very big school." Troy chuckled. She continued, but gave Troy a smile. "I like it here, the people here.. are very nice." Troy smiled, hopefully, the "people" included himself.

They soon got to her house and they settled in. Her mom wasn't home yet, so they were basically in her house alone. They sat down at her kitchen table.

"So, I thought about it for a while, and I was thinking maybe we could do a song." Gabriella began. Troy was about to interrupt, but decided to let her finish first. "Teachers ALWAYS like songs better than poems. Maybe we could get Kelsi to help us out. I met her in choir class already."

"A song..?" Troy stuttered. Gabriella let out a little laugh at his shyness. "I .. can't sing.." Gabriella laughed a little more. _At least I'm making her laugh._

"We'll practice a lot, you'll do fine. Please?" Gabriella made her eyes bigger and smiled. Troy, having already liked her, melted as she did this. He nodded in agreement, but almost immediately regretted it.

"Great! Then I'll get her to help us out." Gabriella took out her text book and began reading the literary devices out loud to Troy. Troy spent more attention examining her face, than listening.

As Gabriella finished, Troy was knocked from his dream. "Well, go home, read over those and come up with some ideas. I'll talk to Kelsi tomorrow." Gabriella smiled again, and Troy smiled even bigger.

Troy knew it was about time for him to go, but he wanted to just wanted to be with her a while longer. To get to know her a bit better. "Uh, Gabriella. I was just thinking,.." _That I really like you even though I've only known you for two days!! _Troy didn't say that part out loud. "that maybe we could work on it again tomorrow after school at my house?"

"So soon? Okay, I want to get it done too. That sounds good then." Gabriella got up and showed him the way out. Before he left, Troy decided to give her a good goodbye. "I hope our project will turn out good.. um.. Yeah." Troy mentally kicked himself again.

"Yeah, me too!" Gabriella leaned against her door.

"Okay! Um, uh, how about you give me your number? So I could call you if I have any ideas about the project?" That must've been the lamest line Troy ever used to get a girl's number.

Gabriella chuckled. "Okay, here it is." She wrote it down on a piece of paper and gave it to Troy. "Hey, Troy?"

Troy looked at her. "Thanks, for being so nice." Troy grinned. It was working, she was beginning to like him. Troy nodded. "Yeah, anytime."

Troy smiled to her. "See you tomorrow, Gabriella." This could be the start, of something new?

* * *

I know, it used to be two chapters, but I thought about it, and thought maybe I should just combine it into one, just to get you guys all to read the best parts all together. Like a big premiere chapter?

Anyways, hoped you guys like it, and review please


	2. Chapter 2: Chemistry

**A/N: **Aww.. I didn't get as many reviews as I wanted.. [ but it's okay, maybe because I didn't make it better till after it ended up on the third page. I hope you guys like the update.. and review pl0x )

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**Chapter Two: Chemistry**

Troy sat on his bed, thinking about their 'date', it wasn't really one, but it made him feel happy inside if he thought of it as a date. He knew it was pretty pathetic. Maybe because there was something about her, that was oddly familiar. Her eyes, especially. These sudden feelings must've came from somewhere beyond the fact that she was beautiful.

Troy threw his stu8ffed basketball at the ceiling, and let it fall down. He liked to do this when he was thinking, helps get his brain moving. _What could it be, about her… that's got me.. this bad..? _Troy thought about it for a minute, but just couldn't think of ever seeing her before. His sparkling blue eyes stared at the ceiling. _Nope. _

He thought about getting to hear her sing, seeing her face, he knew that she would have a beautiful voice as well. Troy let out a yawn. He was getting tired, and he had basketball practice early tomorrow morning.

Troy got up from his bed, stripped down to his boxers and crawled back into his cozy bed. Troy laid there for a while, trying to remember Gabriella clearly, but nothing came into mind.

Thinking, wondering, Troy drifted off to sleep.

"Get your head in the game!" His dad yelled across the court. Troy had just missed a rebound. That was very rare for Troy.

Chad looked at his friend. "You okay, man?"

Troy nodded and jogged back across the court where his dad was waiting for the team debrief before dismissing them to homeroom. Troy walked in and joined the circle around his dad.

"Okay, good practice guys. Could put a little more work in the rebounds though." Directing that at Troy, the team looked at Troy for a second and let the coach continue. "It's alright though, the foul shots were pretty good today. Keep it up and the championship is ours!" The team nodded in agreement and all headed to the showers.

Chad caught up to Troy and patted him roughly on the back. Troy shook his head and headed to the change rooms. He just couldn't wait for the day to be over, and he'd get another chance to get to know Gabriella better.

Troy took a quick shower, and walked a big round before heading to his locker. He walked past Gabriella's locker, hoping he'd see her there before homeroom. She wasn't there, much to his disappointment. _I'm a little late.. she's probably at homeroom already…_

Troy strolled off to homeroom, joining up with Zeke and Jason mid way. Troy fixed his hair slightly, by running through it with his hands before walking into homeroom.

Troy was right, Gabriella was there already. Gabriella was talking with Taylor, and Chad had already taken a seat beside Taylor. _Seems like projecting is doing him some good? _Troy took his words back when he saw Taylor glance at Chad and started hammering him about their project. Troy laughed a bit and went over to Gabriella.

"Hey," Troy greeted. _Gah, I'm lost for words already? I should make a speech tomorrow. _"Uh, so, when're you going to talk to Kelsi?" Troy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Gabriella flicked her brown, wavy hair and her hoop earrings swayed around a little.

"I'll talk to her during third block in Choir." Gabriella smiled. "Don't worry, I'll get it done." Gabriella started to turn to her books. Troy looked at what she was reading through. His best subject, chemistry.

"Wehavealabtodayinchem,doyouwanttobemylabpartner?" Troy blurted out softly, so his friends wouldn't hear him. Unfortunately, Gabriella didn't catch the line of muffled words. She laughed softly and looked at him in the eye. "What? Say it slower."

Seeing that his friends were still busy chatting with each other, he calmed down and relaxed. _Act cool, act cool. _"So, we have a lab today in science, want to be my lab partner? I could use your help." Troy managed to get out. He almost expected a "No, Taylor's my lab partner." But much to his surprise, she nodded and smiled. "That would be okay."

Troy was about to start on another topic, but Ms. Darbus walked in and everyone went to their seats. Satisfied, Troy sat down at his seat with a smile.

Little did he know, there was someone watching him flirt with Gabriella.

* * *

"What is with that new girl? What's-her-name. I've been trying to get Troy to talk to me for ages, but she comes along and within three days, they're already friends." The head cheerleader, Regina George (O! Mean Girls crossover? No, I'm just using the name, but they have a similar character too) complained to her best friend Sharpay Evans. 

"Like I haven't? We have to keep an eye on this. We cannot let someone else get Troy. This was a competition between me and you, not some new dorky girl." Sharpay agreed with her friend. Some random new girl was NOT going to steal Troy from them.

"Girls, please do not talk while I'm talking." Ms. Darbus said, mentioning for them to be quiet. Sharpay and Regina rolled their eyes and stopped talking, for a minute. Sharpay took out a piece of paper and scribbled a note to her friend. '_After homeroom, my locker.' _

Regina nodded and smiled devilishly. They waited till homeroom was over and went over to Sharpay's pink and trendy locker together. They watched as Troy waved to Gabriella as she headed a different way to her locker.

"Augh. She makes me sick." Regina complained, as she took out her mirror. "I mean, what does Troy even see in her?" She added, as she put on more blush.

"Relax, girl. We don't even know for certain that Troy really likes her yet." Sharpay said, fixing her hair. She took out her fluffy pink notebook and opened it. "Hm, it says today I have nothing to do after school. I have an idea."

Regina looked at Sharpay and they snickered. After all, they weren't called the Twin Evils of East High for no reason.

* * *

Troy almost half-skipped to Chemistry class, knowing Gabriella was going to be his lab partner. He felt a slap on his back. "What are you so happy about?" Chad's voice came from behind. Troy laughed. "Oh, nothing. I just thought of a new play for basketball." Chad rolled his eyes. 

"You know, I'm not that stupid, team captain." Troy laughed. What could he say? Chad knew him better than his own brother would. They've been best friends since preschool. Chad shook his head.

Troy laughed lightly as they walked into the Chemistry Lab. He sat down, and waited patiently for class to start so they could start the lab.

Finally, Mr. Miller came in. The class went silent as he began taking attendance. _Come on, get on with it. The lab…_

"So, now will you get with a lab partner and we shall jump into our lab for today. It's a long lab and we don't have much time, so hurry up please." Troy piped up and almost jumped to Gabriella's table. He leaned on her desk and grinned.

"Hi, lab partner!" Gabriella laughed, almost giggled. He was so much like a little kid! Troy took a seat beside Gabriella as the teacher began going over the instructions.

"Dude, you ditched me!" Troy heard Chad's voice complaining behind him. "Now who's going to be my lab partner?"

Gabriella smiled to Troy. "Maybe you should go back to Chad." Troy nodded and waved his hands. "Oh no, no. Chad can be with Taylor! She can help him out, right Chad?" Troy looked back at his friend and winked.

Taylor groaned. "Ugh. Fine, since Gabriella ditched me too." Gabriella looked back and smiled innocently back at her friend. Troy grinned back at them too. He knew Chad must've felt happy inside.

"Can someone from each group come and pick up a small sample of HCL please? And do be careful, it is strong acid." Gabriella was about to get up and go get it but was stopped by Troy. "Here, let me go and get it." Troy flashed her once again, his amazing smile. Gabriella could do nothing but smile back. After all, he was irresistible.

Chad and Taylor watched from behind them. "They seem to be getting close fast, don't you think?" Chad asked Taylor. Taylor, coming back with the bottle of HCL, narrowed her eyes on Troy. "A little TOO fast."

Chad laughed. "Hey, relax, Troy's a nice guy. I can tell he really likes her. Maybe it was love at first sight?" Taylor shrugged. "We'll see in time, won't we?"

Behind them, eavesdropping, Sharpay added a comment to Regina. "Yes, we'll see in time, won't we, gina?"

Troy came back with the bottle of HCL. "Here you go!" Troy said, presenting the bottle to her. Gabriella smiled. Some how, no matter how much she smiled, Troy still felt that she wasn't really accepting him, yet. There was just a distance, a distance Troy intended to close.

"Well, what do we do now?" Troy asked, hoping she would talk to him. "Well, we …" Gabriella flipped through her text book and explained the steps to Troy. Troy knew what to do perfectly, but just needed an excuse to listen to her talk. He stared at her pretty face as she read from the text book. When she looked up, their eyes met. His shining blue eyes shot through into her chocolate brown eyes. The connection was, undeniable.

Troy smiled lightly and read Gabriella's eyes. Gabriella wanted to look away, but for some reason, she just couldn't. Troy could tell. They finally bonded. After about a minute, probably less, Gabriella looked away. "Uh, um, we should get started." Troy grinned and nodded. _She likes me. Or at least, she will._

* * *

"Ugh. Look at that. Did you see the _chemistry _between them?" Regina bitched to her girlfriend. Sharpay narrowed her eyes on Troy. 

"Oh yes, yes I did." Sharpay smiled at her friend.

"Love at first sight is always easy, to break." With a snicker, they looked at each other.

* * *

Kay, that's it for this chapter, hoped you like it and review please 


	3. Chapter 3: A Date?

Hey guys, thanks for the reviews...

The story gets better as it PROGRESSES, I assure you all.

I changed the rating for future purposes. ;

Please Review more ! )

* * *

**Chapter Three: A date?**

"Thanks for helping me out today in Chemistry." Troy thanked Gabriella as they slowly walked to their house. School had ended, and as they had decided the day before, they were going to Troy's house to work on their song.

Gabriella smiled. "No problem. Oh, I got a chance to Kelsi today and she came up with a few melodies we could use. We're going to have to fill in the lyrics ourselves though." Troy smiled nervously.

"Singing and writing lyrics isn't your thing, eh?" Gabriella read his mind out loud. Troy laughed. _How could she have guessed. _Troy chuckled, he must be giving her some sort of bad impression on himself. _But then, she's smiling and laughing a lot, must be a good sign. _He comforted himself.

Troy nodded. "It's going to be fine, I'll be here to make sure we fulfill the criteria she wants us too, all you'll have to do is go with the flow and make sure you practice the song." Gabriella assured Troy as they drew near to his home.

Troy took out his keys and played around with them a little. He accidentally dropped them while twirling them around his fingers. Gabriella laughed. Embarrassed, he leaned over to pick them up, but he found his head crashing into Gabriella's.

They both looked up at the same time and their faces were mere centimeters away from each other. Troy's sparkling blue eyes looked into those of chocolate eyes of Gabriella. Troy could smell her breath under his. Troy felt his heart beat fast, and thump hard. He looked at Gabriella and couldn't break this bond. She looked like she was enchanted as well. Her lips, so close to his own. All he wanted to do was to lean in and kiss her. He started to lean in and close the gap. He knew he shouldn't, but he just couldn't resist. Her wavy hair dangled beside her cheeks.

Troy closed his eyes and was about to kiss her.

"Troy!" Sharpay's voice came from behind them. Gabriella and Troy jumped apart. Troy eyed Sharpay. _Great. Perfect timing… _He sighed.

Sharpay wrapped her arms around Troy. From the back of his eye, he saw Gabriella look annoyed. He couldn't decide whether this was a good sign or not. Sharpay eyed Troy flirtatiously. Gabriella flinched.

"Don't you remember? You promised to take me to the mall today, after school." Troy groaned. He never made such a promise. He was about to open his mouth and snap something back, but Gabriella had turned to leave.

"Well, if you're busy, we can work on it another day." Gabriella said coldly. Troy opened his mouth to reply, but Sharpay walked in front of Troy and blocked his view of Gabriella.

"I never promised you anything!" Troy snapped at Sharpay, flustered. Sharpay gave him an innocent look. "Yes you did!" Troy eyed her angrily.

"No, I didn't!" Sharpay gave him yet another innocent look. Troy pulled his hair in frustration.

"Oh, I guess I must've gotten it mixed up then. Maybe it was Zeke. Sorry, bye!" Sharpay flashed him another flirtatious smile and left.

Sharpay picked up her phone. "Success."

Troy sighed in frustration and picked up his keys. He dangled them in his hands for a moment. _So close… She smelled so nice… she looked so nice too.. _He sighed yet again. _Maybe I should go explain… _

Troy decided to head over to Gabriella's to "work" on their project and maybe their relationship. Troy picked up his bag and began a little jog. After all, she was just next door.

He knocked on the door. No response. He knocked again. No response, again. He banged his head on the door, just as the door flew open. He found himself throwing his head right at… Gabriella's chest.

He immediately backed off. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Both Gabriella and Troy's faces flushed red. Troy rubbed the back of his neck.

Breaking the tension, Gabriella spoke. "So, what brings you here? Aren't you at the mall with Sharpay." She said, in a tone that Troy was kind of getting to be afraid of.

"No, no, no. It's a misunderstanding. In fact, I came here to explain. I never promised her anything I would never do that to you." He blurted before he had time to think through what he was saying. Gabriella eyed him. "Do what to me?"  
Troy took a deep breath. He said the first part without controlling himself anyways. Might as well finish it off.

"I would never have more than one crush at the same time." _I can't believe I just used the word 'crush'… sounds so chick language.. _He played with his fingers nervously. "I would never take a girl to a mall, unless it was a date." Gabriella looked at him and smiled softly, as if she knew what was about to come.

"So, would you like to go to the mall with me?" Troy asked, indirectly, Gabriella on a date. Gabriella smiled and nodded. Troy grinned. _Yes! _Troy grabbed her hand and held on tightly.

"Now?!" Gabriella asked, stunned. Troy grinned. "Of course!" He pulled her to his car garage, right next door. He laughed and Gabriella joined in. He was so happy, finally, a date with the new girl, the girl who absolute got him enchanted.

Troy held on tight to Gabriella's hand through out the car ride. He turned up some nice music, making it easy for Gabriella to relax and have fun.

"So, Gabrielllla, mind if I call you Gabi?" Gabriella smiled and shook her head shyly. _She's so perfect. _Troy almost crashed into another car whilst staring at Gabriella.

"Careful! I still want to live through high school." Gabriella joked sarcastically and Troy laughed. "Well, you should've prepared yourself before boarding this dangerous ride." Troy grinned as he parked his car in a opening spot.

He went over to the other side and opened the door politely for Gabriella. "Why, thank you, lump head basketball boy." Troy looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Nick name Taylor has for you." Troy laughed and took her hand. _Her hand is so soft… _He rubbed his thumb softly on the back of her palm. Gabriella rubbed back gently. A couple of girls coming out from the mall saw them walking in hand in hand.

"Did you see that?" They heard one of the girls asked.

"That was Troy Bolton and he was holding that geeky genius girl Gabriella's hand! What could he be thinking?" Angry and offended, he stopped the girls in their tracks.

"Excuse me, but I think you need to learn some respect from something other than Gucci bags and Prada shoes." The girls looked at him gape mouthed. Why would he yell at them for some geeky girl. They were after all, on the cheerleading squad.

They stomped away angrily.

"You didn't have to do that, I'm used to it." Gabriella said, smiling. He was the first guy to ever stand up for her like that. She was touched. Troy smiled back at her with an irresistible smile.

"I didn't have to, but I really wanted to." Troy leaned in closer. Gabriella knew he was about to kiss her. She pulled back slightly.

Troy smiled. _We ARE at the mall and she might not be ready. I'll take things slower. _"That's okay." Troy nodded understandingly.

They went through shops, and went to watch a movie. It was a date full of laughter and happiness. Gabriella's happiest day sine she had moved here. Deep inside both of their hearts, they were each taking an important spot.

* * *

"Ugh! We prevented them from doing homework, great. Now they're on a date! AND he's holding her filthy hands." Regina whined. Sharpay made her hand into a fist, angry.

"We need a new plan. A good one too., before things get any _worse._" Regina nodded in unison with Sharpay and they began scheming again.

* * *

After they finished walking through half the shops in the mall, and making each other try out ridiculously funny out fits, they headed for the movies.

They decided to watch "Spiderman 3".

The movie had started and Troy and Gabriella sat closely to each other. Troy couldn't help but turn and stare at Gabriella instead of the movie. After about half an hour of secret glances, he put a arm around Gabriella. She didn't flinch away, and looked at him and smiled.

When Mary Jane and Peter Parker finally got back together near the end of the movie, Troy was again staring at Gabriella. This time however, she caught him in the act as she was going to turn and look at him as well.

"Gabriella, I…" Troy finished his sentence by closing the gap between them. Taken by surprise, Gabriella had wanted to pull back. But Troy gave her intense feelings she had never had before for another guy. Enchanted, she kissed him back. Troy smiled in his heart. He deepened the kiss, gently. Gabriella put her hands around his neck and their tongues played with each other.

As the movie ended, and people began leaving, they were still entangled in their kiss.

Gabriella, the sensible one, pulled back. "I think, the movie is over." Troy laughed and smuggled her nose with his.

Troy walked Gabriella back to his car with his hand on her waist, and her hand on his. He felt extremely happy. Through out the car ride, they looked at each other constantly.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Gabriella smiled and nodded.

"Oh, and dress nicely tomorrow." Troy added as he walked her to her front door.

"Why is that?" Gabriella asked, curious.

"Because it's your first day going to school as Troy Bolton's girlfriend." Before Gabriella responded, Troy kissed her lightly on her lips and ran back to the car.

Gabriella smiled. "I never said!"

"Your eyes spoke for you." Troy smiled and drove away.

Troy looked at the sunset ahead of him.

The sun was setting, but his love life was just at it's dawn.

* * *

That's it for this chap, please review!


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